Ten at a Time
by pantyslime
Summary: One chapter after every ten episodes of the anime, with maybe a little more manga canon thrown in than we're given-I'm going to be recapping and exploring InuYasha's budding relationships with his friends and ultimately, his own understanding of himself and the world around him. Updating as I rewatch the series! Rating may change.


That stupid girl. That stupid, bold, outspoken, irrationally brave, _nice dumb_ _girl_.

All InuYasha wanted was possession of the jewel shards! To just be the one that held the damn things. It's not like he was gonna _use _them, or give them away to some other demon. Was that too much to ask? Especially since _she_ hadn't even known about the jewel until she came to _his _world. And then she had to invite the little brat along, too, just because she felt pity. It was hard not to feel sorry for him, though, losing his parents at such a young age. InuYasha guessed that it was pretty convenient that after Shippo had lost his mother and father, probably around the same time, he now had another pair of older people to look after him.

But still! Kagome had no right to ask him along. What use would that be? That little kid had a pocketful of parlor tricks at best. He was of no value to InuYasha's mission whatsoever. He was just looking for revenge, and the hanyou had real work to do, real desires to conquer. And what was Shippo? A parentless brat. So what? InuYasha had been one for years. You didn't see him complain about it.

InuYasha tucked his hands into the folds of his sleeves, grumbling away a continuous strand of complaints in his head. The day before, they had battled off the infamous Thunder Brothers and invited Shippo along on their journey. Only days before, Kagome had met InuYasha's brother for the first time, and InuYasha had claimed the sword he now used to protect her.

It was funny. Both Sesshomaru and the Thunder Brothers thought that InuYasha had any feelings for Kagome aside from this is my jewel shard detector, and I need her to not die. How could he be in love with that woman? She was too damn rowdy and all kinds of excitable, but…

Nobody had ever cheered on InuYasha the way she had. Or stood up for him and encouraged him to do the same, either, even if it did embarrass him a little. And she seemed so happy when he'd finally called her by name.

_But still!_ InuYasha was not in love with Kagome! The thought was entirely laughable! Especially considering how many people assumed they had a _thing._

And why was she the only one who was allowed to hold the damn jewel shards?!

"You should really watch where you're going," the kitsune chided. InuYasha, upon closing his eyes while walking along in a cloud of irritation at the new circumstances that had become his travelling companions, had both tripped over a rock and then smashed his nose smack dab in the middle of a tree.

"Shaddup," InuYasha muttered, rubbing a thumb against his sore nose. Eyebrows knit in annoyance, the hanyou crossed his legs and allowed Kagome to worry about him. He'd already told her there wasn't anything she could do, nor was there anything that _could_ be done—it was just a little trauma to the nose, nothing he hadn't handled before—but she insisted on an ice pack, at least. His nose was red, after all.

Tripping like a bumbling idiot into a tree was also a great opportunity to take it as a sign to set up camp for the night. The sky was turning a deep orange and a few stars poked out through the darkness on the opposite horizon, and so Kagome insisted it was time to settle down. Shippo, yawning, had agreed immediately, and InuYasha protested, saying he was the one who had done all the fighting and he didn't even feel that bad.

By the time InuYasha had made his argument, Shippo had already gathered a stack of logs that would last them the night and Kagome had already set down her backpack, a sure sign that they weren't going to move for at least a little while. InuYasha sighed, yielding, and helped preparing their site for the night.

"This will make you feel better, InuYasha," Kagome cooed, gently pressing a small ice pack to his nose when they were all done. Where'd she even get the ice? It wasn't winter and it had been a long day. And why was she always saying his name like that? Like she couldn't wait to prove she could use it at every opportunity she got. It was borderline annoying.

Though it was a lot nicer to hear his name said so often rather than people spitting the term _half-breed_ at him, like he was some kind of walking disease. And the way she said it didn't sound too bad when she called it out, either. Like she was checking up on him or worried or something. Like she cared about him. And… it wasn't like he hadn't used _her _name more than a few times himself when he finally allowed it to roll off his tongue. Kag-meh. Kah-go-may. Kagome. And after she'd been so boldly unafraid of Sesshomaru, he couldn't help but familiarizing himself with that very name when he'd feared she'd died because of him.

"Thanks," he grumbled, keeping the pack there for only a moment before he moved it away from his face. "You know, it'd _really_ make me feel better if you let me have the jewel fragments like I've asked a hundred times now."

Kagome grunted. "And I told you no! I'm the one who can scope them out when you can't see them, so I'm gonna carry them." She turned a cheek, emphasizing her no-means-no attitude. "So stop asking about it!" The girl promptly grabbed a sleeping bag from her enormous backpack and unrolled it, telling InuYasha he should also go to sleep.

Instead of arguing, InuYasha just rolled his eyes and let her slip into the bag, facing away from the fire and himself, and leaned against the tree. He didn't often sleep on his back, because it was a lot easier to wake up from such an uncomfortable position in case of an attack that way. It had happened to him many times before, and he didn't see it stopping any time soon just because Kagome was around. And she must have been exhausted without having shown it, because within ten minutes her body relaxed from its surprisingly tense position and her breathing slowed to a calm lull after a deep sigh.

"You know," Shippo said after some time passed, startling InuYasha. And he was just about to get some sleep, too…! "If you really want the fragments so bad, you should just take them from her now. What's stopping you?" The hanyou gave the kitsune a one-eyed glare before answering.

"Why aren't you asleep?" InuYasha grunted. "In'nit way past yer bedtime?"

Shippo crossed his arms, head tilted up toward the stars now overhead, like he had become some wise old sage,_ burdened_ with the knowledge of truth. "I'm just saying, she's asleep and the pieces are right there. If you _really_ wanted to take them, you would have done it by now."

InuYasha was getting flustered now, both eyes open and staring fiercely into the temple of the younger boy. "Oh, yeah? And what is that s'posed to mean, huh?"

"You like her." With that, Shippo earned a quick rap on the head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Be quiet." InuYasha had noticed Kagome stirring in her sleep, her body shifting quietly in the cocoon-thing before she sighed and returned to stillness. "I do not _like_ Kagome. She's here to find jewel shards, and that's it."

"Then why won't you be more assertive in taking them without asking? You're the one who wants to use them!"

InuYasha smacked Shippo once more. "I said be quiet! Why don't you just go to sleep?"

Shippo rubbed the sore spot on his head, a knot forming already from the brute force of the cruel hanyou. "I'm telling Kagome when she wakes up!"

"I'll tell her for ya if you just shut up and go to bed." InuYasha shut his eyes, ending the conversation.

"Hmph!" Shippo hopped away from InuYasha and curled into a comfortable spot next to Kagome's head. "I like Kagome, too, you know. There's nothing wrong with that."

InuYasha offered little more than a grunt in response, which prompted Shippo to tuck his head into the pillow where Kagome had lay her head and finally fall asleep.

The fire crackled as the wood burned, an ember popping up every few seconds and illuminating the site in a warm, orange glow. It was almost cozy enough to forget just how many pieces the jewel had broken into—and how many pieces they still had left to search. InuYasha sighed. An inevitably long journey lay ahead of them, but lying down, being quiet, and listening to the fire was actually pretty nice. Despite half-hearted protests to continue onward.

Shippo was right. There was nothing wrong with liking Kagome. And that would be fine and dandy and all, but InuYasha did not fuckin' _like_ Kagome!

Why didn't anybody understand that?!


End file.
